She
by kellyelin
Summary: Annie was six years old and just being adopted. Candy missed her friend and she ran to Pony's hill to cry. Accidentally, she met Neal there.
1. Angel of the Hill

" **Candy Candy" manga is written by Kyoko Mizuki, Yumiko Igarashi.**

oOo

 _ **Chapter 1: The Angel of the Hill**_

Candy and Annie were not yet six years old when Mr. and Mrs. Brighton came to Pony's home to adopt Annie. Candy and Annie couldn't believe that the adoption was actually happening. Many people came and went before but they never actually chose to adopt either one of them… until now.

Before they began to grasp what's going on, they came to take Annie. They made Annie change to the most beautiful dress Candy had ever seen. After allowing Annie to hug Candy, they put Annie inside the car. Before Candy could take the next breath the car had started to move…

"Candy!" screamed Annie, sobbing, from the car window. "I don't want to leave! I don't want to leave!" She suddenly felt scared.

"Be happy, Annie! You have mom and dad!" With a big brave smile Candy waved to Annie. She ran along the car until she couldn't keep up anymore. "Be happy! BE! HAPPY!"

As always, Candy always boosted her confidence… Even until the very last second. "Candy!" screamed Annie tearfully. "I love you!"

"I love you, Annie!" screamed Candy. "Bye!"

"Bye!" The car disappeared before Annie finished screaming. Leaving Candy alone...

Panted heavily, Candy bent over with hands on her knees, trying to breath and to grasp the reality. _Annie is adopted,_ thought Candy in disbelief. _She has a mom and a dad now. I'm happy for her._

Candy kept telling herself how happy she was. But it's hard to actually feel so. Without Annie, she felt lonely. She missed her friend greatly and gradually the sad reality started to sink in: no one wanted to adopt her.

No, she's not happy at all. To not upset Ms. Pony and Sr. Lane, Candy ran to the Pony's hill to cry herself out, alone.

"I want a mom and a dad, too," cried Candy. Feeling lonely and abandoned, she ran so fast that she fell. Didn't bother to get up, she buried her face in her arms and burst into heartbreaking tears. Bitterly, she cried never endingly.

Suddenly, among her sobs Candy heard a faint noise coming from the far.

Candy ignored it initially, but the sound kept moving closer… getting louder. _That's weird,_ thought Candy. This hill was her and Annie's secret place. They had never met anyone here.

"Mama!" After a while Candy caught the sound distinctly.

She lifted up her head and sat up rigidly to see who's there. On the foot of the hill, she saw a little boy.

"Mama where are you? Ma!" screamed the boy.

Candy wiped her tears and drifted her attention to the boy.

"Mama!" the boy wailed in distressed. "Mama … Where are you?" He cried.

From the top of the hill, Candy looked around. There's no one else.

 _Poor thing_ , thought Candy as she witnessed the boy who kept crying desperately. She forgot about her misery, right away. _He must've got lost! I'll help him!_

Candy sprang on her feet and ran down the hill to approach the boy. He's about the same height as her, probably even shorter. His face was all wet smeared by mixture of tears and mud from his dirty hand. He startled seeing candy. But since Candy was just a little girl, he's not afraid of her.

"Hello," said Candy in her friendly voice. "You're looking for your mother?"

He nodded and cried out loud. "I can't find my mama. I can't find anyone," he said, shaking with sobs. "I was following a frog, when I came back they're all gone." He cried.

"Don't worry," said Candy. "I help you to find your mother."

"C-could you?" he stammered, sobbing in agony.

"Yes," said Candy decisively. "Oh, I'm Candy. You?"

"N-Neal," said the boy. Among his sobs, he offered his hand for a handshake. The two children shook hands.

"Don't cry, Neal," said Candy. "Come with me. My mothers will help you to find your mother." Kindly, Candy took Neal's hand and held it in hers. She took him to Pony's home.

Candy took Neal to Ms. Pony and explained the situation.

"Don't worry, dear," said Ms. Pony kindly to Neal. "We will find your mother."

Candy watched Ms. Pony and Sr. Lane did some brainstorming which she didn't pay much attention to. She kept looking at her little friend instead. He looked cute in his little suit. She often saw men wore suit but she never saw a little boy dress in a suit like that before.

"Come here, Neal… We go to the police office," said Sr. Lane kindly. "Say bye to candy."

Sr. Lane tried to separate Neal from Candy but he refused. He held Candy's hand tighter and started to cry again. So Sr. Lane let Candy hold Neal's hand and took Candy to the police with her too. Sr. Lane drove the horse buggy herself.

"You're very nice," said Neal meekly to Candy inside the buggy. "Just like my sister."

"You have a sister?" Candy asked.

Neal nodded.

"She's very pretty. Just like you."

Inside the police office, they waited until Neal's parents came which's pretty quick. They had been looking for their son everywhere. The entire policemen in the whole city knew that the son of the famous Leagan family was missing. Soon, Mrs. Sarah Leagan arrived. Neal's face burst with smile when he saw his mother. Quickly, he released Candy's hand and ran to his mother's arms.

Candy noticed. She saw how happy his face became.

"Mama," screamed Neal with the jolliest smile.

Sarah lifted him up and hugged her tearfully, happy to find her beloved son again.

Next to Neal's mother, stood a little girl wearing a pretty dress. From their conversation, Candy picked up that she's Eliza, Neal's sister. Her dress was beautiful. She looked just like a real princess reminding Candy of Annie. Seeing all these made Candy want to be adopted even more.

Sarah offered a large sum of money to Ms. Lane which Sr. Lane refused. But, Sarah insisted on giving.

"Thanks Ma'am. I'd rather we give something for Candy. She's the one who found your son," said Sr. Lane.

Sarah came to approach Candy.

"Thank you, Candy," Sarah said kindly.

"You're welcome," said little Candy.

"We'd like to give you a gift. Anything you want?"

"No, thank you," answered Candy mechanically. Ms. Pony and Sr. Lane always taught the children to give help to others without requesting something in return.

"But we do want to give you something. Toy, perhaps? A new dress?"

Candy was silent, looking thoughtful.

"I want a mommy," said Candy after lengthy moment. Sarah was surprised to hear that difficult request. She personally wasn't planning to adopt. She wouldn't want to have children with unknown background in her home. On top of it, her hands were already full with her own two young children.

Sarah got up, thoughtful, staying composed. She discussed something to Sr. Lane which Candy didn't follow.

Sarah then came back to Candy again. "Thanks again, Candy," said Sarah. "Neal, say thank you to Candy. We go home."

Neal moved forward. "Thank you Candy," said little Neal.

"You're welcome," answered Candy.

Neal stared at Candy deeply before running to his mother and sister. Candy was disappointed that they didn't take her with them.

"Mama, Candy won't come with us?" Candy heard Neal say.

Candy couldn't catch his mother's answer. She saw Neal struggle. He pulled his hand from his mother and ran back to Candy.

"Candy…" Neal took something out from the pocket of his suit. "This is for you," Neal whispered. He put that something in Candy's hand and quickly ran back to his mother.

In the buggy, Candy opened her palm to examine what Neal gave her. It's a metal plate, richly decorated. The size was a bit bigger than half of her little palm with a letter "L" in the middle.

 _What's this?_ , she thought.

"What's that Candy?" Sr. Lane asked curiously. "Oh nice. A family badge, I guess." She smiled and continued riding the horse to go back home.

oOo

Life went on as usual for Candy.

Meanwhile, Sarah who was grateful to Candy worked seriously to realize Candy's wish. She contacted her vast network of rich friends and found an affluent banker who were childless, the Bernstein. Sarah successfully persuaded them to adopt Candy. Before long the Bernstein moved to France and took Candy with them.

Neal never met Candy again, not yet at least. Candy never met Annie anymore either, but they wrote letters to each other regularly. Candy also wrote regularly to Ms. Pony and Sr. Lane.

-To be continued-

Thanks for reading


	2. Math Tutor

Idea: The world should flow differently because Candy was adopted by the Bernsteins not the Ardlays.

 **.**

 **Chapter 2:** _**Math Tutor**_

 _ **10 years later**_

Candy had been wanting to study in England to join her friend, Annie. Now that Candy was big enough, finally Mr. and Mrs. Bernstein granted her wish. They sent Candy to finish her high school in London.

Annie came to pick Candy up in the port. This was the first time they met in ten years. They laughed happily and hugged one another in tears of joy.

"Let me introduce you to my cousins," said Annie.

"Let me guess first...," said Candy. "Glasses, Stear. So, this must be Patty… Stear's brother, Archie... And...," she looked at the two blondes who looked like twins. "Anthony and uncle William." Candy correctly pointed to each man accordingly.

Her heart stopped beating for a moment admiring the four gorgeous men standing in front of her. Never before she met these many handsome men at the same place at the same time together.

"Oh Candy! All correct! You've been reading my letters!"

"By heart, Annie!" said Candy again, laughing.

They all shook hands with Candy.

"I have two more cousins," said Annie.

"Do you?" Candy didn't remember Annie mentioned about them in her letters.

"Maybe I never wrote about them because I'm not that closed to them. But they are in St. Paul too somewhere."

Candy nodded, secretly stole a glance at Anthony. Slender, good looking, and what a pair of gorgeous kind blue eyes he had… Oh, she would want to date him!

"Anthony and uncle William will go back to America today," said Annie shooting down her wish.

 _What a pity,_ thought Candy, disappointed.

Together, they took Albert and Anthony to their ship. They stayed until the ship left.

"Now we go home. St. Paul. Your new home, Candy," said Annie.

"I can't wait to see it," said Candy, excitedly.

Candy was chatting, laughing together with her friends when she felt something pushed her strongly from behind. She fell.

"Excuse me," said a deep voice of an alpha-male.

Candy turned around and her gaze met a dazzling young man... It's unbelievable… In just twenty minutes in Britain, she had met so many good looking men - more than the total she had ever met in her entire life. With a wicked grin, the hot hunk offered her his hand. Candy shyly gave her hand to him but just before they touched, Archie pushed him away.

"What do you think you're doing? Bulldozer!"

"I had said excuse me," the man barked without looking at Archie.

"That's not enough. Apologize to her!" demanded Archie. Before Archie blinked, the man laid a stinging punch on Archie's face. Without hesitation, Archie got back on his feet ready to make the counter attack.

"Cut it out," cried Stear. He ran in between Archie and the man. "Chill out, Archie let's not fight." Stear pushed Archie to prevent him from continuing fighting.

"Let me go!" yelled Archie.

Ignoring Archie, the man turned to Candy who had got up by herself.

"Terry." He gave the most elegant bow and kissed Candy's hand. Candy blushed feeling the dazzling man's wet lips on her hand. His long hair fell irresistibly on his shoulder. She felt sorry when he turned around and left.

"Let's take Candy to her dorm," Stear said still holding his brother's arm in case he ran to chase Terry.

In a few minutes, everyone was back to their merry mood. They chatted incessantly until they arrived at the dorm.

That night Candy, Annie, and Patty chatted together until half past nine. Then they got ready to bed. Strictly at ten, the lights had to be switched off and they mustn't make any more noise.

Candy felt so happy. She dreamed beautiful dreams that night.

oOoo

 _ **A few days later…**_

Candy enjoyed her new school. She loved her friends, classes, everything. She picked drama for her election class. On the appointed day she went to an audition, as required.

"Hm, pretty Freckless." Candy felt someone's arm wrapped around her waist. Oh the man who bumped her in the port!

"Recognize me?" Terry grinned.

She nodded, blushing. How come he could look more dazzling in just a few days?

"Dinner this weekend?" he whispered.

Candy of course agreed. From then on, Candy started to date Terry. Due to his aristocratic title as the son of Duke Grandchester, Terry had the privilege to have a private room. Girls shouldn't come to boys dorm. But, Candy often secretly came to Terry's private room to stay there overnight.

Candy started to miss her homework and got left behind, especially in the subject she hated the most, math. She skipped countless of math homework and her math grade declined alarmingly sharply.

Mr. Jones, the math teacher, called Candy to come to his office to discuss her math performance.

"You need to put more effort in math, Miss. Bernstein," warned Mr. Jones.

With head bent down, Candy only nodded.

"In the next two weeks, you'll get extra homework to help you catch up. If you're caught skipping one, you'd get double the amount of assignment."

 _Goose!,_ thought Candy in silence.

"I suggest you to seek help. You could come to my office hours or study with your friends. Math is fun!" said Mr. Jones.

Candy secretly mocked her teacher. _Math? Fun? Get out of here!_

"In particular, I recommend you start make use of the Math Tutorial Center," added Mr. Jones.

At length, Mr. Jones described the importance of the Center. It opened everyday and attended by a tutor during the office hours. The tutor was picked among the brightest students in math and he or she stayed there to help other fellow students.

 _Yada yada yada…_ Candy couldn't care less… She stopped listening. After giving Candy a mountain of substitute homework, Mr. Jones dismissed her.

 _Not good_ , thought Candy as she exited Mr. Jones' office. _I hate math_ , Candy grumbled _._

Mr. Jones' warning and punishment weren't enough to dissuade Candy from meeting Terry that night. Instead of going to the Math Center to start working on her extra loaded math homework, Candy went to Terry's room to meet him again. But, she made progressed. This time she didn't stay overnight. She left at the dinner time.

After dinner, Candy went to the library to start doing her homework. She finished her homework relatively easily until, as usual, she got stumbled on the math homework. She's so behind in math. Not because she's not capable but because she skipped the assignments too many times.

It's tempting to skip the homework again, but she decided not to. She's afraid of the consequences as explained clearly by Mr. Jones this afternoon. Reluctantly, Candy went to Mr. Jones' office to seek help.

It was already after eight when Candy arrived at Mr. Jones' office. Obviously, he's not there anymore. She then ran to ask help from Stear or Patty, but she couldn't find them either. Terry and Archie were almost as good as her in math, there's no use to even try to ask them… so did Annie.

 _What to do?_ Candy needed help, badly. By now the time was already 8:30 PM.

 _Gosh! Not much time left to wait for Stear to come back,_ thought Candy, panicked.

She's so afraid of the negligence punishment if she failed to do her homework. Above all, it could affect her final grade. She didn't want to disappoint her parents who already paid so much for her.

Then Candy remembered about the Math Center. _Let me try them!_ In rushed, Candy went to the Math Center.

When she entered, the room was already empty with only one tutor left. Hurriedly, she took a seat close to the tutor. She knew she'd need plenty of help!

She opened her book and started to work. Her head went spinning almost immediately. _Math is impossible!_ She got up to ask questions to the tutor. Number after number...

At nine, she heard a bell ring.

"Sorry, we need to close," the tutor announced.

"My life depends on this," begged Candy. "If Mr. Jones found out that I didn't finish these... I'd be dead."

The tutor checked the wall clock, considering. "Fine, five more minutes."

Candy went back to her textbook. She heard the tutor yawn.

 _I don't envy this man's job_ , thought Candy. _Math! At nine at night! Arghhh!_

Candy saw him pull a bag of peanuts from under his desk. He then started to work to eat the peanuts.

Murmuring some swear words, he got up to look for something. "Where is it?" Candy heard him talk to himself.

"You're looking for something?" asked Candy.

"Peanut-cracker. But never mind… Just be quick with your homework, we need to leave soon." He then took something from his pocket and used it to crush and open the peanuts.

 _Math folks…_ Candy tried to hide her smile. _Why not just open peanuts using fingers?_

Candy was about to turn her attention back to her book but her eyes caught the metal object he's using to crack peanuts.

She almost fainted. _How did he get that?_ She stared frozenly at the tutor's face.

"What?" he asked carelessly. "Done yet? It's fifteen past nine now." He yawned.

"Is that…," Candy pointing to the metal object, "yours?"

"This?" he asked, waving the metal object in his hand.

Candy nodded.

"Yeah, why?"

"I have one, too."

"Can't be. Only the first son in my family has this."

"Someone gave it to me." Candy's eyes drifted to read the tutor's name written on his name tag. N-e-a-l. "Neal?"

It's been ten years since they last met. She was six years old back then. Like other young children, she didn't accurately connect and associate people's names with their face. Without that metal badge, she wouldn't think much about _Neal_. There're so many Neals, she had dozens of friends with that name.

"Huh?" he arched his eyebrows.

"When I was six, I met a boy who got lost in the hill closed to Pony's home. He gave me a metal name badge. His name is Neal, but I don't remember his last name."

He looked lost and opened his mouth so wide.

"I got lost in the hill. I was chasing a frog. A girl came to rescue me. I gave her one of these," he pointed to his metal name badge. "L. Leagan."

He examined Candy's face… Blonde girl, green eyes, the beautiful angel of the hill. He always wanted to meet her again but his mother never let him. "We're grateful to them but we're of different class," his mother always said as the excuse.

"Candy!"

"Neal!"

"Wow..." They squeaked. "How are you?", "Where have you been...", "Glad to see you again", laughters soon followed, mixed up in the air.

Neal got sobered first. "Candy, we need to turn off our bedroom light at ten. Now it's already half past nine. How's your homework?"

"This is too difficult, Neal. And I can't think much right now."

"I do your homework. You copy it from me and write it in your book. Tomorrow come back and ask me if there're parts that you don't understand."

Neal was awesome. Quickly he did all the problems for Candy and she just copied them to her homework book. Candy finished the homework in ten minutes. They ran back to their dorm and turned off the lights exactly at ten.

 **-To be continued-**

Thanks for reading.

 _Goose_ : Slang word.

oOo

Thanks for the reviewers for the support. __


	3. Unforgetable

_**Chapter 3: Unforgetable**_

From then on, Candy came to the Math Tutorial Center every day. Candy who's inherently smart, started to be good in math too. Her math grades improved greatly. Mr. Jones praised Candy incessantly in class. She became famous and started to help her classmates, too.

 _Who knows math could be fun!_ , reflected Candy. _It helps to have a cute tutor._

Candy giggled to herself. Brown hair with brown eyes that's clear like honey. _Yup, Neal is cute_. She laughed. _He's funny._ Candy chuckled thinking about his jokes. He taught her how to crack peanuts with the Leagan name tag, too!

 _Too bad Neal is a bit short._ Candy tapped her fingers against her chin, considering. She estimated her height could easily tower his if she wore heels. _That, could be a problem._ She giggled.

"You're thinking of me?" Candy felt strong arms hugging her from the back.

"Oh! Hi Terry!" said Candy, surprised. She gave him a long smooch to avoid answering his question. It's not good if her boyfriend caught her thinking about another boy!

"I miss you… Let's meet in my place?" Terry whispered, hugging Candy.

"Not now, Terry." Candy twisted to release herself from his grip.

"Why not?" asked Terry softly. He pulled her back to hug and kiss her possessively.

"I have a math appointment with a tutor."

"Math! Gezz Freckles…! Why you like math so much suddenly?!"

"Homework…" Candy blushed. Terry caught that. "This weekend, I go to your place." She put her fingers on his lips to hush him. "Promise!"

Candy glanced at the clock. "Eight o'clock! Sorry, gotta go!"

Candy gave Terry a kiss and ran away.

 _Math?,_ thought Terry, stunned _. Since when was she interested in math?_ He frowned, rubbed his forehead in disbelief. _I should go and check!_

Terry went to the Math Center around nine. He stood hidden in the doorway to examine what his girlfriend was doing. The room was already empty, there's only her and the tutor. She was chatting with the tutor, laughing seemingly having a good time.

 _Leagan?,_ thought Terry recognizing the tutor. _She's not doing math!_ His heart boiled with jealousy.

Terry stayed a bit longer to gather more clues.

A bell rang loudly at nine as a sign that the Math Center had closed but Candy and Neal didn't seem to care. They sat still.

"Candy, I have something for you," Neal said shyly to Candy. Neal was even blushing! Seeing that, Terry almost lost it.

Neal took a box of chocolate and a bouquet of flowers from under his desk.

 _Oh… he prepared this for me? Neal is so cute,_ thought Candy excitedly.

"C-Candy…" Neal stammered shyly. "W-would you be my girlf-"

 _That's enough,_ thought Terry, totally lost it.

"Cut it off, Leagan," growled Terry. In a lighting speed, Terry burst into the room and put one foot on Neal's desk.

"She's mine!" snarled Terry. He punched Neal's face and Neal fell on the floor. Candy gasped.

Terry stood straight triumphantly with a proud grin staring at his opponent who lay on the floor.

"She would not want a brainless man like you!" squeaked Neal.

It ignited Terry greatly. He bent to grip Neal's collars. With both hands, Terry pulled Neal up.

"Oh yeah? And you think she prefers a weak, short, muscle-less geek?" growled Terry. "Listen Leagan, I see you with her one more time then I will splash your brain out of your skull."

Terry punched Neal again, and again.

"Terry don't. Stop it! Stop it!" screamed Candy.

Candy's scream reached the patrolling school security and teacher outside. In a rush, they came to the scene.

The teacher entered just when Terry threw Neal to the floor, his nose was bleeding.

"Terrence, stop that!" ordered the teacher.

But, Terry wouldn't listen. Two officers and one teacher had to struggle to drag Terry out of the room. The school punished Terry and put him in the probation room where he shouldn't see anyone for a few days.

Candy felt so guilty to Terry. It's all her fault. She was thinking of another boy while dating Terry.

At midnight, Candy sneaked out from her window to look for Terry in his room and apologize. But, he's not there. The following day, she kept looking and waiting for Terry, again she couldn't find him. She felt dying with guilt and worried.

Then, Candy saw a message for her in her locker.

.

" _Candy,_

 _If I knew you right, I'm sure you'd look for me in my room. You won't find me there, they put me in the probation room. I ran away through the window though..._

 _I've decided to go to America. Schooling is not for me. I want to be an actor._

 _I love you, Freckles._

 _Till we meet again._

 _Terry"_

 _._

 _Oh Terry, why don't you take me with you,_ Candy cried, regretted it all. _How could you have the heart to leave me alone?_ She cried sadly.

 _All is my fault,_ thought Candy. Candy felt so awful to drag Terry intro troubles. She owed Terry an apology or she would never live in peace!

That night Candy ran away from the school too to look for Terry. She only left a short note to her best friends.

 _._

 _Dear Annie, Patty,_

 _I go to America to look for Terry. I owe him an apology._

 _We stay in touch._

 _Love,_

 _Candy._

.

Meanwhile, Neal was waiting for Candy, but she never showed up. Soon he learned that Candy had left the school…

ooOoo

A few weeks later, Candy arrived in America to execute her mission to look for Terry.

It's not an easy task to do.

Candy started by going to the only place she knew, the Pony's home. She felt grateful that Ms. Pony and Sr. Lane accepted her with such open arms and made her feel so welcomed. Candy then started to work in a nearby hospital and earn a living as a nurse. Independent as always, she didn't want to keep relying on her parents for money.

Luckily, Terry got famous quickly. Within a year, his name had shot high and appeared in newspaper. Candy contacted him. They started to exchange letters, visit each other, and continue their relationship.

oOo oOo

 _ **Three years later i**_ _ **n Chicago…**_

Mr. Leagan asked his son, Neal, to visit a very important client who's sick in the hospital. Neal was about to go when his mother came to talk to him.

"Neal, when do you plan to propose Daisy?"

"Maybe never, ma," replied Neal.

"Why not? She's pretty and she likes you!"

 _Pretty? Perhaps… But, that's all she has._ "No spark," answered Neal bluntly.

"Don't be too demanding, Neal."

Neal sighed. These past years, he'd been giving his parents various excuses to delay his marriage. He still hadn't given up hope that he could meet Candy again.

A servant knocked. Neal felt relieved for the interruption. "Ms. Daisy is on the phone for master Neal."

Neal groaned. "Tell her I'm not home," said Neal.

"Before you make a decision you should treat her nicely. She's the most viable candidate so far." Sarah scolded her son. "Go, talk to her. Be nice!"

Obediently, Neal went to answer the phone.

"Hi Neal," said Daisy sweetly. "Would you go to watch a play with me tonight?"

 _As always! She invited to watch a darn play,_ Neal banged his forehead to the table.

"Tonight, hm… let's see…," said Neal, pretending checking his schedule. "Oh too bad. Dad wants me to visit someone in the hospital tonight."

"What about tomorrow then? We could row a bot."

"You know what… it's worse. I'll have a late phone call with some Japanese clients."

"Then what about…"

 _ **15 minutes later…**_

Neal was relieved when he could successfully hang up the phone without having to schedule a date with Daisy.

He looked at his watch. _Almost late for the hospital visiting hour._

Neal picked up his coat and hat and rushed to go to the hospital. The road was unusually crowded, probably because of a special street fair. He glanced at his watch... _Not good._ _The visiting time is almost over._

Neal had his driver drop him on the road and he ran to the hospital. When he entered the hospital, the elevator doors were just about to close. He ran as fast as he could, jumped, and slid himself to enter just before the door closed.

 _Whew… made it,_ thought Neal.

The elevator door re-opened from the sudden jerk he made. Neal pushed the closing door button and noticed someone, a nurse, was already inside.

"Sorry…," Neal mumbled to her. Then, his heart stopped beating.

 _Curly blonde hair?,_ Neal lifted his head and scrutinized the nurse's face intensely. From her body language he could tell that she didn't feel comfortable, but he ignored it.

 _Mesmerizing green eyes, freckles,…_ He couldn't believe his eyes, what's the odd for this to happen…?

Neal read her name tag. "Bernstein."

"Candy Bernstein?" Neal whispered.

\- _To be continued_ -

 _ **Thanks for reading.**_


	4. Under The Oak Tree

_**Chapter 4:**_ __ _ **Under The Oak Tree**_

The nurse lifted up her head. "Hi…," she trailed off. _He knows my first name?,_ she wondered.

Her mind moved quickly trying to remember who this man was. Breathtakingly handsome, broad shoulders, slick brown hair, deep brown eyes, thick eyebrows,… Hardly possible she'd forget a tall man with such a desirable look like this. But her memory truly failed her this time. She went totally blank, couldn't remember meeting this gorgeous man before.

 _Maybe one of Terry's actor friends?_

Well, she had thousands of patients not to mention their friends and family… Of course she couldn't remember all.

She flushed at the sharp stare of his penetrating look.

"I'm Neal. Neal Leagan. You're Candy?" His voice was a deep bass with a rasp caress that made her belly tingle.

 _Neal!_ _Look how he becomes._ She gasped, almost said it out loud. None of the actors she knew from Terry was even comparable.

She re-examined his breathtaking features trying to see some connection from the short Neal of past. The eyebrows and the grin still looked the same. Yeah… believable.

"Neal Leagan! Yes, I'm Candy."

Candy smiled so sweetly that made his heart flutter mercilessly.

"I didn't recognize you," added Candy. "You look…" Candy struggled with a proper word to use. Hot? Masculine? Handsome? Superb? Sexy? At the end she settled with the least provocative one, "… different!"

 _Quick, get her contact number,_ thought Neal.

"I'm in a rush to see someone," said Neal, tapping his watch. "Could I get your phone number?"

Candy smiled, she understood the visit hour was almost over. "Sure."

"Dinner? After work?"

Neal was over the moon when she agreed.

From that on, Neal went to the hospital diligently to meet Candy.

"Your friend, Patty, told me that you left for America."

"Yes, to look for Terry. I found him."

 _She's s_ _till with that actor?_ , thought Neal, annoyed. It's been two years, he surely hoped that they'd issues or broken up by now.

He glanced at her fingers and to his disappointment he saw a ring.

"This friendship ring is from him," said Candy beaming with pride.

Neal breathed again. _Only friendship ring. Not too late yet_.

"I'm glad you found him," said Neal, hoping he successfully removed any trace of cynicism from his voice.

oOo

Neal and Candy met more often after that day. Since Terry was not in Chicago, once in a while Candy borrowed Neal as her date in many hospital occasions. It irritated him to see so many men try to be sweet to her. On one bad day, he's so overcome by jealousy and burst out.

"He's too boring." "He's too short for you." "His style doesn't match yours." "Look at the way he tied his tie." "His cologne doesn't smell right."

After a while, it got into Candy's nerve.

"Everyone is not right, isn't it? I don't need to listen to you. What do you know about my kind of man!"

"Candy, this is for your own good," defended Neal.

He held her hand and his finger hit Terry's friendship ring.

"You should reconsider that actor, too. He's the least qualified. He's so poor in math!" continued Neal.

"Terry is the best!" screamed Candy in anger.

"Of course he is," laughed Neal sarcastically.

He pulled her to his lap.

She got up quickly out of his lap like there's fire on it.

"Go away, Neal," said Candy, annoyed. She lifted her hand to show him Terry's ring. "I belong to someone," she yelled.

"I can give you a friendship ring too." Neal mocked.

"I can't believe you," scowled Candy. "You know what? You can't! Because, I don't want to be your friend anymore!" She left him.

As soon as she walked away, he regretted what he'd done.

He rushed to her and said, "Don't be mad, Candy. Tomorrow is Friday. Dinner?" his heart throbbed with hopes. He didn't want her to alienate him.

"I'll go to New York this weekend," snapped Candy shooting down his hope.

"How long?"

"A week," said Candy without looking. She's still mad.

 _That long?,_ thought Neal. He regretted he couldn't hold his tongue better.

"Then, could I take you to the train station. Please?" asked Neal. It's better than not seeing her at all…

He felt relieved that she agreed. That meant she'd forgiven him.

oOo

He visited her again in the hospital the following week. To his surprise she looked distressingly pale and thin.

"Candy, how are you?" he asked carefully. He didn't want to sound too snooping and ignite a fight like the one he caused a day before she left.

"Sometimes," she sobbed. "I'm not sure where the boundary of our friendship is, Neal."

She stared at him for a while before turning around and ran away.

 _Did I see tears?_ , thought Neal, quickly he followed her.

Candy didn't stop running until they're far inside the hospital's large garden.

Neal took off his suit and spread it on the grass behind the bush. "Sit here, Candy." She looked so frail, it frightened him.

Candy followed. She sat on his suit next to him.

"Terry has a new girl," Candy said, sobbing. "His coworker who saved him. She's willing to give up her life for him... So Terry… Terry…" Candy cried.

"I'm sorry," Neal responded although his heart actually was overjoyed.

"Are you really?" she asked. Tears sprang from her eyes.

Of course not. He's happy that they broke up. But he wondered if she's ready to hear that.

"Come here," said Neal instead. He carefully hugged her. "Don't cry."

He wondered if she'd struggle or push him. To his surprise she held his neck tightly. He held her until his legs cramp from the awkward position, until her sobs were gone. For her, he'd bear all.

"My parents asked me to go home. To France," said Candy.

"For how long?" his stomach churned unpleasantly at the prospect of she's leaving.

"Indefinitely. Without Terry, I have nothing else to do in America."

His heart was frozen right away.

"When?" he asked.

"Next week."

After a long pause, Neal exhaled deeply. _What the hell…. I can't stay silent much longer._

"About our friendship… There really is no boundary. Candy, could you tell? I love you."

Abruptly she released his neck and pulled away, staring at him in astonished look. He adjusted his position.

"I have fallen in love with you since the moment you held my hand in Pony's hill," continued Neal. "I wanted to visit you again in Pony's home, but I didn't know how."

He stopped short of telling that his mother didn't allow him to.

"In St. Paul, I memorized every curve of your face, every shade of your hair curls, every fine line in your iris..." He stroke her face gently with the back of his hand. "I etched those memories in my brain, locked them in my heart… so if we ever met again I wouldn't miss you."

He took his hands and kissed them gently one and the other. "To myself, you always be my angel of the hill."

Her mouth opened big, her eyes even bigger. He waited for her to respond but she seemed unable to articulate any sound. He didn't say anything either to interrupt the moment. He just stared at her, waited… patiently holding her hands couldn't care less if it'd take forever.

"T-Then … We shouldn't have any boundary," she said, finally.

"Huh?"

In a flash, she grabbed his head, pulled it down, and kissed him. His heart jumped to the sky, didn't want this to ever end.

She pulled away first abruptly with his lips still parted.

"I wish Terry saw this," grumbled Candy.

"S-so…," he closed his mouth. "That kiss was for Terry?"

"Just now I cried not because Terry left me," explained Candy. "But because I can't imagine going back to France without you. Oh Neal… I've been suffering. I haven't eaten for days so sick at the thought that I'd leave you. I doubt I'd have the strength to say good bye."

"Candy," he whispered, digging his fingers in her hair, pulling her closer. What she said was totally expected. He's so bursting with joy.

"I love you, Neal. That kiss was to tell you that," explained Candy.

He slammed his lips into hers kissing her vigorously with the urgency of someone who couldn't wait anymore. It's been concealed far too long, he couldn't wait to show his love openly.

He ripped his mouth from hers just long enough to say, "I love you, Candy." He deepened his kiss. His whole body was insanely aching for her. Nothing could stop him now. Even if everyone in the hospital was watching them at this moment, he didn't think he would care to stop.

"Don't stop me…," he begged, sliding his hand up high to her inner thigh, "Please…"

"I won't," whispered Candy. "But be quick… before someone sees us." She blushed and motioned to take off her white nurse suit. "Skip the foreplay."

Under the oak tree, on top of fluffy grass covered by his suit… The earth changed to heaven. Together with her, he flushed all his loads inside her, eased with it all worries, anxiety, longing which's been built up since the past. He guessed it right, she's the best. She's just made perfectly for him to hug, to kiss, to enter,… to love. Everything just fit in easily.

Still breathing heavily, she lifted her head to smile at him.

"How are you," she asked.

"Great… ," he murmured. He held her on his lap, pressing his head against hers. "How are you?"

She nodded. "We should go back before someone got here."

This area usually had patients. They had been lucky and should stop pushing their luck too far. Candy picked up her white nurse suit and wore it back.

While watching her, he was thinking. What if she disappeared again without trace. It happened before - twice. He had loved her all of his life and after experiencing making love with her, he couldn't fathom another day without having her next to him.

"Candy….Wait…"

"Yes?" she replied.

He held both of her hands, stared gently into her eyes he said, "Marry me, my angel."

She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand, completely unexpected to hear that.

When Terry denied her in New York, the first thing she thought was to run to Neal's arms. She knew only him could comfort her heart. These past few weeks, she had been happy with Neal. Looking back, studying with him in the Math Center was the happiest moment she had in St. Paul. Had it not because she thought she belonged to Terry, she would've seen Neal much quicker.

"I-it's not too fast?" asked Candy.

"For waiting for you since I was seven?" he responded.

Candy cried and laughed at the same time. She nodded. "Yes! Oh yes. I marry you." She jumped into his arms.

"Candy…"

Dizzy with joy, he grabbed her waist and lifted her up off her feet and then he's kissing her again.

He then pulled away and set her down to access her reaction.

To his relieved she smiled brightly. She looked happy and radiant, it's too good to be true.

"About the angel of the hill thing, is it true?" she asked.

"Yes! You're my dearest angel of the hill. The most beautiful girl I met who turned to be the most beautiful woman known to me. I want nothing less than to make every day the happiest of your life."

Candy joyfully jumped to his arms and they kissed again…

oOo

Candy went back to France as planned, but not alone. She took Neal with her to introduce him as her fiance to her parents.

They were married soon after and lived happily ever after.

- _ **THE END**_ **-**

Thanks for reading.


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